ScholarWorks > Institutes & Centers > CADPR > IJAD > Vol. 3 > Iss. 2 (2016)
Article Title
Why Regional Integration Succeeds or Fails in Africa
Abstract
Article has been surpressed per request of the author.
The question of why some regional integrations succeed and others fail remains unresolved. This paper goes beyond proximate factors advocated by most studies. It examines the importance of initial conditions and argues that structural change in the fundamental sectors of the economy must have taken place in all, or at least a few, countries seeking closer ties. A comparative case study analysis of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), guided by the political settlements theoretical framework, confirms the hypothesis: Structural transformation stimulates the kind of conditions required to create incentives for countries to demand regional integration and succeed in achieving it. These findings have important implications for most developing countries that see regional integration as a panacea for the uneven structure of global trade and investment.